X  shiits



4 sHEEs-snsn 1.

L. A. BODLER ET AL. APPARATUS Fon PRINTING THE PusTAGE oN sonos To se MAlL HLD HAY 2E, 192|.

Feb. 20, 192s. L Y A Lgzmiz. L. A. BODLER ET AL. Y

AA'Lu's Fon FRINTLNG TH 'POSTAGE Gons ro BE MAILED.

FILED MAY 25, |92\ A 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Heb. 20, 1923.

L. A. BODLER ET AL. APPARATUS FOR PRINTING THE POSTAGE 0N 6000s T0 Be MAILED FILED IIIAY 26. 1921.

QN .3km

my. @9; m L A. ULEB H M.

d In; Pgnf oN coons To BE MAILED.

l Ugg; 4 sumsrsuceu.

,mmm mi; Kamm y ,i NF

Patented Feb.. 20, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT @Priore LUDWIG ALFRED BODLER, FRITZ HUMMER, Amm :Emma PAUm,n1F IIUGERNE,

SWITZERLAND.

APPARATUS ron PRINTING THE PosTvAG oN fepgps Top@ ganIpnp.

Application filed May *26,

To all whom rtiff/tay concern Be lit known that We, LUDWIG ALFRED Boom, `a citizen of the Republic of Ger many, residing at Lucerne, Fnrivz KUT/1m, a. citizen of the Republic o-t' Switzerland, residing at Lucerne, and FRITZ FAULT, a citizen of the Republic of Switzerland, residinglat Lucerne, Switzerland, have' linventedlieertaiin new and nse'fnl Improvements in Apparatus for Printing the .fostage on Goods to be Mailed; and We do hereby ydeclave lthe following to be a clear, full, and exact 'description of the invention, snh as will enable others skilled inthe artto `which it fappertains to make and use the same, referenee being 'had to the accompanying difwwings and to letters or figures ot' reference merked'thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for printing the ost/age on goods to be mai-led, such as prinied matter, sainples, postcards, letters, addresses Eof pareels and V'the *like thus replacing postage stamps so that private firms will utilize the above apparatus under' vthe control of ti-1e postfotice authorities. The apparatus may to this end indicate the total amount due corresponding to the number of impressions made, and the firm may'pay 'the postage fees in a manner similar to that in which it pays for electricity, gas or Water consmnption :iccording to the indications of a meter.

The apparatus according to the invention consists of a plurality of dies for different velues of the postage which can be singly brought into an operative position, yand of a device for each die for vadding the number of impressions efiiected by each die.

A eonstructional example of the apparatus according Ito the invention is shown on the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is :1 plan View ofthe apparatus on a small scale,

F ig. 2 is a vertical erom-section on an enlarged scale and along line II--II of Fig. L

Fir. 3 is a Vertical cross-section along line vill-Ill of Fig. l,

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section along line IV-IV of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on line V-V ot' Fig. 2, parts of the apparatus being shown in plan View,

Figs. (i and 7 show details of the appara- 1921. seria-1 No. 4723857.

in'fr positions.

ritmici@ a @agente base-pinete which a. cover 2 is detahably coiniectefcil. Ineiibel 3 is fia-ed tof-sn bis@ ,ne me @massi with two'ueiapgdf site@ d Henstedt@ act "as vertical" indes e i nler 4pail :indigo e impe. t member or T ruainniy arranged-nement@ llilft 2 wot 15 of u tiigpneieigslse'ti k inks-1 pad e )and fbnpggtttsgtd ,tg tically up and down in" vhe i 1n sie longitudine fe'iretfqnefehg at e ms ne in envagement. Strme itrpm part of 'a sli ,e [i8 ldgtetl'to dipl-heed inthe longitudinal `riiii'etion 'the .aggettitr-.is on "ttie main .sliie 1'9, letterA Y iispnceabiy .mange tif svrsgl .eil motion i'ngnidemeans 0"( ig. oiided on the part t8. For the purpose o ing :1 to and increment to 'the main slice 19' two. levers 2,1 tref rdtgtaijlyhmou 'on the slizitt l@ 'and :ire provided :itI their right. hailid side (when seen in Fi 2,) with ra p'rojec' .ing facing 22. A.'livo bo s 23, 24 respectiTely. fixed "to the levers "1,3 coo eiate with saidtac'ings and with the other ide fof isaid leve- 2l respectively upon atnrning of said levers 1'3 in fone or 'the other direction. The levers 2l are connected by means of" links 25' to the `main slide i9. hns, upon 'an o'srillating motion ot the hand lever i3 tlie main slide 19 is moved to und *fro in its horizontal guides and that stamp 1i the square part 16 ot the `carrier ot which is in engagement with the lngsl? of the slide T8 takes part, in the movement of the main slide 19. The relative position between the oolts and tus and of parts thereof in diferent vvol-,y

ein

` tion offsaid levers.

24 on the levers 13 and the parts of the levers 21 with which said bolts cooperate is such, that the levers 13 perform aligfmd`e4 movement before the bolts 23, 24'contact with the levers 21. In consequence thereof uponaturning motion of the A.hand lever 13 from the position shown in Fig. 2 in the direetion of the arrow towards the left, the lever 14 is first "turned towards the base plate 1 and the carrier part 15 supportingv the pad 6 performs a lowering movement owing to itsvveight and moves away from thestamp 11. Thereafter the bolts 23 abut against the facings and cause a movement ofl ,thezdie llfiil the direction of the arrow shgivign. InA this wav` a rubbing of the die l`1r'on`th`eipafd is prevented. When the. hand lever is moved` rom its extreme left position towards the (right,` which movement can be elected byla'springw, `the die 11 is moved towards the r1ght`andy the pad 6 is raised againby the action of the lever 14. r

`Ilowards the ewoA ends of the shaft 12 theare further arranged two levers 25 rot':n ably rvrnioumted,,on `said shaft the free ends of .Vfsaid levers being provided with c l'indricialfrodlfs 26 extending in the direc- On the rods 26 double arrned levers 27 are swingably mounted the free ends of said levers being provided with rollers 28 and respectively. yT he two lateral ends of the impact member 7 are provided with projections 30 (Figs. l and 7) which, seen in elevation` are of a triangular shape, the upper side of the triangle being horizontally arranged. The upper rollers 28K` coact with said upperside of the triangles andcause the impact member 7 to be lowered `in the guide 5 upon a turning of the haiid lever 13 in the direction of the arrow. To transmit the turning motion of the levers 13 to the levers 25 the former are provided witli projecting facings 31 which abut with `facings 32" provided on the levers 25. UponV the lowering of the impact member 7 the lower rolls 29 of the levers 27 come yinto `en vagement 4with Ithe rounded head 33 of bo ts screwed into the base plate 1 and projecting into the ath of said rolls 29. Thereupon` tlie :levers 7 are caused to turn around their fulcrum rods 26, wherebyv the rollers 28 are brought out of engagement with the upper side of the triangular projections and release `the impact member 7. Fig. 7 illustrates the position of the lever 27 at this moment. The lowering movement of the impact member 7 causes a compression of the springs 34, of which two are provided and which now impart a rapid upwards movement to the impact member 7 towards the die 11. which meanwhile has been brought into its operative position (illus.- trated in Fig. 6) by the turning movement of the hand lever 13 as has been described above. ln this way the value corresponding to the postage and engraved in the operative die 11 is printed onto an envelope or the like inserted between thelimpact member 7 and the stamp 11. Then the hand lever 13 is turned in the direction opposite to the arrow shown in Fig; 2, the free ends of the levers 35 fixed on the shaft 12 contact with facings 36 and cause` a turning motion of the levers 25 in ananti-roclrwise direction.` During this movement the upper rolls 28 of the leversy :fil glide along' the` inclined sides of `the `triangular projections BO'and, as soon las they pass theV corner of said projections, swing by the action of the Weight of the levers 29 around the fulcrums 2 6, so that the rolls 28 are again in engagement with the horizontal sidesl of the projections 30. L f For `the ypurpose of printing different values corresponding to different postage fees for mail mattera special die 11 for ,each value is provided inthe apparatus. Toselectr the desired value and cause the stamp correspondingto that value to become operative the ,slide 18 canbe` moved in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus on the main slide `19 so that itslugs 17 can rbe brought into engagementl with the square head 16 of the desired die carrier 10. The slide 18 is provided with a knob projecting above the top part of the cover 2. 1n connection with the knob37 a plate 38 is provided lto which a. hand 39` is fixed (Fig. 3), which indicates on number plates 410 the value to be printed by the operative die 11. In order to secure the slide 18 in the desired position a pin 41 is operativelyT connected `to theplate 38 and is pressed bv the action of a spring 42 `into holes 43 corresponding to the .proper position in which the` operative connection betweennthe slide 18 and the desired die iseilected, i ik stop His further fixedto said plate 38 and extending into the openingl 41.5 of the cover into which the envelopes and the like to be stamped are inserted.` i The lower endof the stop is in contact with thc horizontal ledge 46 on which the envelopes are placed, the latter being moved in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus until they rest ,with one of their lateral edgesagainst the stop 44. which position then ensures the stamp being printed in the right hand corner of the envelope card, address slip or the like.

The device for adding thel impressions e1'- fected by every die consists of the following parts: Each die carrier 1() is provided at its rear end with a rod like extension i7 which is guided on its upper half by an extending portion of the guide member 8. The outer end of each rod i7 is provided with an oblique cam fare 48. which, on the forward movement of the stamp carrier 10,y coacts with an oblique facing 49 provided on a turnably mounted organ 5.0 and causes a displacement of said facing 49 and thereby a, turning motion of the organ 50 in an anticlockwise direction around its fulcrum. A spring loaded pawl 51 which is in engagement with the toothed part of counter wheels 52 of the jumping figure type is mounted on the organ 50 and causes a turning motion of the wheels 52 through the extent of one tooth upon the turning of organ 50. A plate spring 53 brings the organ 50 back into its initial position. To every counter wheel 52 provided with the ti ures a ratchet wheel 53 is rigidly xed, w ich is provided with a slot 54 extending across the whole width of the teeth between the teeth corresponding to the Figures 9 and 0. The pawl 5l is provided with the same number of prongs as the number of counting wheels with which it cooperates and pushes in a tangential direction a ainst the ratchet wheels. The prong which cooperates with the counter Wheel which represents the single figures is the longest and the adjacent prongs cooperating with the following Wheels (the wheels representing the tens, hundredths and thousands) are shorter by the height of the teeth of the ratchet wheels. When, now, the wheel countin the single figures has been shifted to the igure 9, the prong coacting with this wheel enters the notch between the Figures 9 and O and the next prong (coacting with the wheel indicating the tens) becomes operative and shifts the next wheel b one tooth and so on. Pawls 54 are further provided for preventing a return movement of the counting Wheels.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for printing'` the postage on mail matter, the combinationzof a plurality of independently movable dies corresponding to different postage values, means to bring any one of the dies into a printing position, a hand lever for operating the apparatus, an impact member operatively connected to said hand lever and adapted to cause the matter to be printed upon to be pressed against the selected die, and means to add the number of impressions made by any of the dies.

2. In an apparatus for printing the postage on mail matter, the combination of a plurality of dies correspondin to different postage values nking means ger said dies,

means adapted to be operatively connected to an one of the dies for moving the selected die from its inking position into its operative position, means to effect the op erative connection of any one of said dies with the means causing said movement of the Selected die,a hand lever operatively connected to the means causing the movement or' the selected stamp, an impact member operatively connected to said hand lever and adapted to cause the mail matter to be printed upon t0 be pressed against the operative stamp, and means to add the number of impressions made by any of the stamps.

3. In an apparatus for printing the postage on goods to be mailed, the combination of a plurality of dies corresponding to different values, inking means for said dies, means adapted to be operatively connected to any one of the dies for moving the selected die from its position to its operative position, means to effect the operative connection of any one of said dies with the means causing said movement of the die, a hand lever operatively connected to the means causing the movement of the selected die, means adapted to cause a movement of the inking means before the movement of the selected die into its operative position is started, an impact member operatively connected to said hand lever and adapted to cause the mail to be printed upon to be pressed against the operative die, and means to add the number of impressions made by any of the dies.

4. In an apparatus for printing postage on letters and the like, the combination with independently movable printing dies and inlring mechanism therefor; of manually operated die-selecting mechanism, an operating handle, means to move the inlring mechanism during the initial period of more- Inent of said handle, means actuated by the handle to move the selected die into printing position, a spring-actuated platen released by said handle after the die has moved into printing position, and registering mechanism Operated by each die on its return movement.

ln testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention we have si ned our names.

L. ALFRR BODLER FRITZ lUiMMlll. FRITZ lAULl. 

